In the past, there have been different types of cervical collars used on patients who have suffered neck injuries. The cervical collar provides rigid support for the cervical vertebrae to immobilize the vertebrae while relieving pressures on the cervical nerves by supporting the head and preventing undue pressures from being applied to the neck. A cervical collar should maintain front to back stability of the patient's head in addition to preventing rotation of the head. It is also desirable to maintain stability in other angular positions of the head such as by holding the head in flexion, or extension, or by holding the head in extreme capital flexion.
Since a cervical collar may be worn by a patient over a long period of time, it is also important for the cervical collar to be comfortable. The cervical collar should be adjustable to adapt to various neck sizes while maintaining the required rigid support in different adjustable positions. An adjustable cervical collar is more useful if it can be applied quickly and easily while adjusting to various neck sizes, rather that being a custom-made or custom-adjusted device.
A popular cervical collar, known as the Philadelphia collar, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,756,226 to Calabrese et al. The Philadelphia collar is formed in two halves and each half is made from a closed cell polymeric material. Each half is adjustably coupled to the other half and one half supports the chin while the other half extends along the spine from the back to the basal portion of the skull. The Philadelphia collar currently requires twelve different sizes, four sizes for different heights and three circumferential sizes.
The present invention provides a one size adjustable cervical collar that can be adjusted to match all of the circumferential and vertical height adjustments of the Philadelphia collar. Moreover, the cervical collar of this invention adapts to different angles for maintaining the head in extension, flexion, or extreme capital flexion, or other angular orientations of the head, while also maintaining extreme stability of the collar in these various angular positions. The collar is infinitely adjustable to these various angular positions and is extremely stable in its resistance to up and down angular movement, side to side angular movement, or rotation of the head. The cervical collar also is extremely light in weight and comfortable when worn, as well as quickly and easily applied and adjusted to fit the particular neck size of the patient and to adjust to the desired angular position in which the head is immobilized.